Layne and Dempsey Through the Years
by The Demigod Wizard
Summary: Call-backs! Please R&R. Will update soon!
1. Flashback

**FLASHBACK**

_Dempsey_

I shuffled into the Kindergarten classroom nervously. "Chubby!" Laughed a dark-haired girl with a tan the color of caramels. I blushed. Why were people always calling me fat? Who were they to judge me? A short, bouncy girl ran up to me. "HI! HI! HI! HI! Are you new? I'm Lay Nabeley!" "Huh? Lay Nabeley?" "That's _Layne. Abeley. _L-A-Y-N-E! A-B-E-L-E-Y! What's your name?" Was she talking to me? I looked around. I guess she was. "I-I'm Dempesy. Dempsey Solomon." She nodded. "Got it. By the way, I like your hair." My hair was light blond and wavy, and plain. "Really? Thanks. I like your hair, too." Her hair was a reddish-brown, and it was very curly.

Layne had a cool outfit too. She wore bunny slippers and a purple flowered jumper over a red polka-dotted dress. "Wanna be best friends?" She asked. I grinned. "Okie dokie!" Layne pulled my arm. "C'mon, Dempey-doo! Time for snack-time!" "Alright, Laynie-poo!" We ran to the snack table.


	2. In the Trailers

_Layne _

"You know, the new trailers really aren't so bad," Dempsey said after finishing a bite of his Subway sandwich. I glared at him. Why was he taking _Massie's _side all of a sudden? "Um, Dempsey?" I mumbled, "This is _Massie Block _we're talking about! She picked on us all through last year and sixth grade! She would call you Humpty Dempsey! She would make fun of your weight _every single day_! What's going on?" "Yeah, Dempsey," Heather added, " Ever since Africa, you've been acting all..." She ran a hand through her jet-black blunt bob as she pondered the right word. "Hmm," Heather suggested, "How 'bout crazy? Crowd-chasing? Popular? Un-Dempsey-ish?" "Guys, relax! they're nice now." "Only because you're cool now!" I snapped. "Massie likes you because you're cool! If she wasn't on a boyfa-" "SO!" Claire interrupted, glaring at me. I wasn't supposed to share that secret. Right.

When Claire _first _came Octavian Country Day (OCD to the cool kids; I liked to call it Ocho, because of _Oc_tavian _Co_untry Day, and Occo doesn't have as nice of a ring to it), she was fun and sweet. But, like everyone, she wanted to be cool, so she became friends with Massie and became cool. She spent all of her friday nights with Massie at her sleepovers, and she went along with Massie's ideas on how to improve the trailers. Layne couldn't trust her or even Dempsey anymore.

"Whatever, Dempsey. It's your life-not mine." I stood up, pushed in my chair, and walked away, followed by Heather and Meena. "Guys, _wait!_" Dempsey complained, but we went to another table.


	3. Growing Apart

_Dempsey_

I sat on my bed, talking to Layne on the phone.

"My ankle's a lot better. Thanks."

"Did you get my basket?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

"I heard about Kristen."

"Oh. Yeah."

"You're mad at me."

"Uh...Noimnot!"

"You sound like Carrie. UH-NUN-SEE-ATE!"

"Got it. I said, 'No,I'm not'."

"Dempsey, I know you too well. What's going on?"

"It's just-why've you been acting like this lately?"

"Like_ what_?!"

"Um, like, well...YOUDONTEVENTRYTOBECOOL!"

"What, Carrie?"

"I said, 'You. Don't. Even. Try. To. Be. Cool'!"

"COOL?! COOL?! You've been acting weird since Africa!"

"Why are you _always _mentioning Africa?! I just lost some weight and got a tan and got contacts so people would like me!"

"_See_, Dempsey?! That's the problem! These people only like you because of your looks! They don't like you for your personality! And anywho-"

"ANYWHO?! Really?! Who _says _stuff like that?! It's _weird!_"

"ANYWHO, 'get people to _like _you'?! 'GET PEOPLE TO _LIKE_ YOU'?! You already _had _people who liked you! Me, Heather, Meena, Danh, Aimee, Rachel-"

"You know what I mean!"

"No, I don't! Tell me, Dempsey!"

"That didn't count! Okay?! Cool, fun, _real _people like me now!"

"So _we're _not cool, fun, and real?!"

"UGH! You _know _what I mean! People that everyone likes! I wanted to be liked!"

"But why weren't _our _friendships enough for you, Dempsey?!"

"Why can't you understand?! I just wanted to be liked! To have friends and a girlfriend!"

"But you _had _friends! And you could've had a girlfriend!"

"Yeah, _right_! No one liked me that way!"

"I did! I had a crush on you! Oh, but that's right! I don't count!"

_Click._ She hung up on me. Ugh! "Wait-Layne used to have a crush on me? She doesn't like me anymore now. Not even like a friend. She was beyond upset when I quitted the play for Kristen, but now? I don't know if she'll ever forgive me. Oh, well. At least no cool people are mad at me." I needed to stop talking to myself. I opened a text.

**Kristen: **Hey

**Dempsey: **Hey. How're u feeling?

**Kristen: **Better. Thnx.

**Dempsey: **Cool.

I closed my phone and threw it on the bed. For some reason, I was bummed out. Oh, well. I was probably just tired. I didn't miss Layne.


	4. No More Witty Committee

_Layne_

"NO, Kristen!" I snapped. "There _is _no Witty Committee anymore! You betrayed me! Unless you want a committee with no Einstein!" "No, Layne," said Danh, "We're a team. All for oneand one fore all! she betrayed you." Rachel ran a hand through her straight, auburn hair. "Not only that, but you also kept our friendships a secret." Danh nodded. "You chose Massie over us by doing that." Aimee sighed, then calmly put her white-blond hair into a ponytail on top of her head. "We're friends, but no longer a committee." She threw her Shakespeare wig into the middle of our circle, and the rest of us followed with our wigs except for Kristen. "B-b-but, guys, I-I'm your friend! Your alpha! C-c'mon! Please! I need you guys!" "Need us?!" I spat. "You have Massie, and Dempsey, and the-" Dahn, Aimee, Rachel and I chirped in unison, "the PURDY COMMURDY!" Kristen rolled her eyes. "_Really_, guys? That's immature. Grow up. It's the _pretty committee_!" We glared at her and walked off.

Massie made the girls upgrade to high school boys, so Claire started hanging out with me as her second choice. Dempsey even said something to me once, but I didn't wanna be his last choice so I ran off. Eighth grade was turning out to be awful.

Christmas came and went, then it was January. One day, Danh ran up to me excitedly. "Layne! We're not gonna be picked on anymore!" I grinned. "What?! Why?!" "Queen Block is moving to England!" We hugged and cheered. "I'm not gonna be Candy Corn anymore!" Danh cheered. "Ocho will finally be free!" I replied. We jumped up and down until Dempsey walked up to us.

"Why are you so excited?" He asked with a bored expression on his face. Danh and I looked at each other and sung on unison, "HIGH HO THE WICKED WITCH IS DEAD!" "She's moving to England!" Danh cheered. "The Block is leaving the block!" I replied. We danced around until Dempsey stopped us. "Guys, that's so mean. You shouldn't be happy about someone moving." Dahn set his jaw, tossed his hair, and spoke in a too-high girl voice, "Okay, Humpty Dempsey! Humpty Dempsey took a great fall!" "It was all Alicia's fault!" I finished in an equally-high voice, then I added, "Candy Corn, you shouldn't talk like that! You're not Purdy Commurdy-worthy!" We burst out laughing, then I added seriously, "Demps, say what you want, but she's just a bully. A beautiful, well-dressed, manicured bully." Danh nodded. "Yeah!" Dempsey rolled his eyes. "You're so immature." He walked off.


	5. Talking to the Guys

**Thanks for the reviews! Hope this chapter answers any questions. Here it is:**

_Dempsey_

I was leaving soccer practice when I bumped into Cam Fisher. "We need to talk," he mumbled. I sighed. "I know, I know, I'll be given a new position on the team once Derrick's not injured anymore, yada, yada." Cam raised an eyebrow. "Actually, it's not about soccer." "Oh?" "Yeah." "Look, I gotta go-" "Seriously, Dempsey, just listen!" I crossed my arms. "You have three minutes."

"You-have-to-treat-Layne-nicer-'cause-she-was-the-only-girl-who-was-nice-to-you-before-" "How's this any of your business?!" "I, uh, well, she's friends with Claire, and she's my friend, too! I think she's cool!" My jaw dropped. "_What?!"_ Derrik Harrington came up to us. "What's going on?" Cam smiled calmly. "Derrick, don't you think Layne's cool?" Derrick blinked. "Hmm, let's see-Layne and Massie don't get along. Massie flirted with another guy when we were dating and thought _I _was immature. Sure, Layne's cool!" I shook my head. "B-b-but you guys aren't serious, are you? I mean, you guys were nice to me before Africa, so what do you guys know? You're just being nice to her!" I stomped my feet in frustration and ran off.

The next morning, Dean Don announced, "Attention! Although Briarwood and Octavian Country Day are no longer a joint school, they will still be doing a school play together. Auditions and rehearsals will be here at Briarwood in the auditorium." Kemp Hurley nudged me. "I'm gonna audition." The guys burst out laughing. "You? You can't act!" Plovert joked. "Maybe not, but tons of girls do the play. You've got competition this year, Dempsey!" The guys laughed, and I sighed with relief. If Kemp was doing the play, then acting was cool.

After the assembly, Derrick and Cam pulled me a side. "Look," Cam began, "We were kinda harsh on you yesterday, so sorry." "Yeah." I sighed. I couldn't stay mad at the mostpopular guys in the grade. It would ruin my reputation. "S'okay."


	6. The Auditions

_Layne_

"Layne Abeley, please read for the part of Maria with Kemp Hurley who will be reading for the part of Captain Von Trap. Action!"

As soon as I started reading the words on the page, I became Maria. "But they're children!" I protested. Kemp's words flowed from the script to his mouth. The scene ended and my jaw dropped. Kemp Hurley-soccer player, flirt, class clown-was an amazing actor. "Wonderful!" The teacher called out. She had us try singing alone, then together.

I sang "Reflection" from _Mulan_. Kemp sang "If I were a Rich Man" from _Fiddler on the Roof_, making the whole audience crack up. Kemp was an amazing singer, and he acted the song really well. Together, they had us sing a duet.

"Um..." I whispered to Kemp, "What about...**16 going on 17**? **Notice Me Horton**?" "Hmmm, let's do the first one," He replied. We began singing, and we danced around, too. I had a lot of fun during the song. It ended and he stuck up his hand for a high-five. I hit his hand, grinning.

Just as I was leaving the audition, I looked over at Dempsey. He looked bummed out. He probably was thinking about the fact that Kemp had a better chance at getting the lead now. I turned away from my ex-friend, and I hurried over to Heather and Meena, who were preparing for their auditions.


	7. CallBacks

_Dempsey_

I clicked open the call-backs email and waited for it to load, excitement secretly building up inside of me. Normally, Layne and I would call each other up and talk on the phone while we clicked open the email at the same time. It was often good news, so we would meet up at the ice cream place and talk about getting ready for call-backs and all of that. This time, it was different. he email finished loading.

_Congratulations to everyone who auditioned. Remember: Everyone gets a part. Just because you didn't get a call-back doesn't mean you're not a lead. And remember, the chorus is a great part, too. Without further ado, the call-backs list in alphabetical order: (Special thanks to the director of the Tech backstage, Danh Bandak for working with the lighting during auditions)_

**Layne Abeley**

**Cami Abraham**

**Meena Cole**

**Tessa Dale**

**Ollie Evans**

**Heather Grace**

**Samantha Hall**

**Kemp Hurley**

**Aimee Snyder**

**Dempsey Solomon**

I scrolled through the rest of the email and cheered when I saw my name. Layne, Meena, Heather and Kemp made it too. I went to bed.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Call-backs were crowded. Each table seated six. I sat down where Kemp was sitting. Surprisingly, it was with Layne, Meena, Heather and Aimee. Kemp was asking them for acting tips and laughing. Soon, call-backs started. The way that the call-backs worked was that two people would start a scene (improv), then another person would be called to replace the first person, and so on and so forth. When it got to the last person, the first person-who had only gone once-went with them.

"LAYNE ABELEY AND CAMI ABRAHAM!"

"_How could you_?!" Layne snapped, started the scene.

"How could _**I**_?!" Cami retorted.

"Yeah! I saw you kissing my boyfriend_!"_

_"Kissing him?!_ Yeah, _right_! You sound like Hadley Durk!"

"I saw you, Kay!u were supposed to be my best friend!" Layne lunged at Cami. Cami stepped out of the way, making Layne fall. Layne jumped up and gave Cami's head a fake hair-pull. Cami screamed.

"OW, OW, OW, OWWWWWWWW! QUIT IT, SYDNEY!" She jerked her head away from Layne fake-stomped on her foot. "So, I kissed him! Big whoop!" "GRRR!" Layne ran at Cami.

"_AND, _SCENE! Wonderful job, girls!" Everyone clapped. Next, Cami had a scene with Meena, who had a scene with Tessa, who had a scene with Ollie, who had a scene with Sam,who had scene with Kemp. He pretended to be a dog and she was a little girl who just got the new dog. Soon he and Aimee went, then Aimee and I went.

"Aren't you gonna help me?!" She snapped.

"Help you?! I've already been helping you! And don't take that tone with me, young lady. Focus on the road!"

"But, _Dad_! I'm trying to drive! It's harder than it looks!"

"_I_'ve been driving for-"

"Not that 'I'm so old' speech again, Dad! Ooh, I'm getting a call!"

"ANGELA URSULA SMITH! FOCUS! _I_'ll answer! Hello? Oh, hi, young man. No, this is her father. She's driving right now-"

"DAD!"

"And, scene! Wow!"

Next, I had to do a scene with Kemp.

Kemp approached me angrily. "Young man, I saw you cheat on that test !"

"Uh, what're you talking ab-?"

"I saw you look off of Miss Wood's test."

"But she's a nerd! That's what nerds do!"

"Expulsion!"

"WHAT?! But, I-"

"AND, SCENE! Marvelous!"

Last I had to do a scene with Layne. I ran up to her. "Anastasia!"

"Lenny, what are you doing here?"

"I'm just here 'cause-"

"Don't you go into that 'over-protective brother' stuff again! I'll be _fine_ taking my driver's test!" I was impressed with Layne's good idea for the scene, so I added to it.

"_Fine_?! Last time, you crashed into the-"

"Don't you bring the lemonade stand into this!" Everyone burst out laughing.

"Why not?!"

"UGH! I'm sick of you bringing your crazy opinions into stuff like this I-"

"_All _I'm saying is that maybe you should just wait a little while!"

"And, scene! Spectacular!"

I looked at Layne who was beaming. She turned to me, and for a second, it was almost like we were friends again.

**I've seen fanfic authors list the possible couples on their story, so I'm going to try that. I'm not sure which couples to add yet; please give feedback. Possible: **

**Layne&Dempsey**

**Layne&Kemp**

**Kristen&Dempsey (Not as much)**

**Meena&Kemp**

**Heather&Kemp**

**Layne&Danh**

**Kristen&Danh**


	8. Cast Lists and Crying Laynes

_Layne_

"HURRY! HURRY! GO, GO, GO, GO!" I ran through the hallways with Meena and Heather until we stopped at the list, shrieking. "LAYNE! OH MY GOSH!" All of a sudden, they were both hugging me. I glanced at the list and grinned. "Maria. And Heather, awesome, you're the baroness! And Meena's Liesel! Yay!" We all started screaming and cheering, not checking to see who else's name was on the list. "Captain Von Trap," Dempsey said quietly. "Cool."

"DEMPSEY, DEMPSEY!" I turned around to see the P.C. girls calling out after Dempsey. My ex-friend led the pack, grinning at him. "Demps! Heyy!" His face lit up. "Hi, Kristen." She twirled her blond ponytail. "So, uh, I noticed you had the lead, and, uh, that's great and all, but what about soccer?" Dempsey's eyes widened in confusion. "Kris, soccer is a fall sport." She sighed impatiently. "Yeah but, it's spring now, so you wanna stay in shape, ya know? With like, track or tennis, or something." Dempsey looked at his feet. "But the play is fun…" Kristen sighed. "Dempsey-you love soccer. Why don't you, I dunno, quit the play?" At this, I jumped up.

"WHAT?! Dempsey! She made us quit the last play! You're not-you're not really thinking about…" I couldn't finish saying what I was saying. Hot tears ran down my face, and I sprinted to the bathroom with Meena and Heather on my trail.

I never made it there. I guess my tears were blurring my vision, because I ran right into Kemp Hurley. "Oof! Layne! Uh-you got the lead! Congrats! Why are you crying?" I glared at him, but my gaze softened when I saw the concern in his eyes. "What about you? What's your part, Kemp?" Meena interrupted, saving me from talking. I smiled at her gratefully. "I'm Rolf." He reached for Meena's hand and kissed it. "My Liesel." They laughed, and then Kemp looked at me. "Let's all get some ice cream. To celebrate our parts." We all looked at each other, and then we shrugged and decided to go with Kemp's suggestion, except for me. "I'm gonna take a rain check," I mumbled. Kemp scribbled something onto a scrap of paper. "Call me maybe." He winked at me, and I laughed. "I guess." I watched Kemp ascort Meena and Heather to the door, and I ran home.


End file.
